TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of
the Study
Statement of
the problem
Purpose of
the study
Significance of the Study
Research
Questions
Hypotheses
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Conceptual
framework
Theoretical
Frame work
Empirical
studies
Summary of
literature review.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHOD
Design of the
study:
Area of the
study:
Sample and
Sample Technique:
Instrument
used for data collection:
Validity of
the Instrument:
Reliability
of the Instrument:
Procedure for
Data Collection:
Method of
data analysis:
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION
OF DATA ANALYSIS
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, DISCUSSION,
RECOMMENDATIONS, IMPLICATIONS, LIM ITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES
Summary of
Findings:
Discussion of
findings
Age Range of Participants
Recommendations
Implication
of the study
Limitations
of the study
Suggestions
for further studies
REFERENCES
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Every government strives through investment to
achieve development for the well being of her citizens. Development according
to Nyerere (2006) is the expansion of man‟s own consciousness and therefore of
his own power over himself, his environment and his society. Ofuebe (1992) defined it as a phenomenon in
which individual and society interact with their physical, biological and
inter-human environment, transforming them for their own betterment and in the
process, lesson that are learnt are passed on to future generation to enable
them improve their capacity to make further valuable changes. Development must
be dedicated to the improvement of all round well being of people but it can
only make meaning when the people for whom the development is meant for
appreciate and understand the value of the services rendered. Hence, Sesay
(1997) notes that development can be energy-sapping, time consuming and a waste
of effort and resources, if the people for whom the development services are
being provided are kept underdeveloped to the extent that they lack
understanding of the value of the services provided and hence do not care to
maintain and sustain them.
It is evident from the above that development
is meaningful only when it is sustained. Hence World Commission on Environment
and Development (WCED) defined sustainable development as the development that
meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future
generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable
development must involve an all round development of the individual and the
society. International Council for Adult Education (ICAE), (2006:89) notes that the essence of sustained
and integrated balanced development is to achieve social, economic and
political justice that leads to the liberation of mankind and in so doing
eradicates such scourges as mass poverty and mass illiteracy. It is therefore evident that every nation has
the preoccupation of providing sustainable development for her citizens.
Nigeria is one of the developing nations of
the world with communities that are still highly underdeveloped. Eboh, Okoye and Ayichi (1995) report that
about twothirds of 85.5 million citizens of Nigeria still live in an estimated
97,000 rural communities. UNICEF (1990) then states that the lives of these
people living in these communities are characterized by poverty, misery,
morbidity and underdevelopment. Their income remains low and agriculture which
is their major preoccupation has been on the decline because of lack of
mechanization. Despite these handicaps, these communities still occupy
strategic position in the development of the nation. UNICEF (1990) further
notes that the rural sector of the economy provides employment for about 70 per
cent of the nation‟s labour force and the inhabitants produce 90 per cent of
the food marketed and consumed in Nigeria.
Despite all the development policies and plans
rolled out by the colonial government and the Nigerian government to develop
the rural sectors of the economy, the communities are still underdeveloped in
most cases. Koinyan (1991) states that the poor state of development reflects
cumulative policy neglect and faulty planning from colonial period because
there was no systematic programme for development, rather the development policy
was an extraction of surplus from the communities to meet imperial priorities.
Nwosu (1990) also opined that people living in rural areas are poor and still
experience underdevelopment. The poverty he further notes is not because they
are deficient in natural endowments but rather, as a result of the fact that
they lack the potentialities to effectively and efficiently tap fully their
valuable gifts of nature. One of the major ways by which the potentialities can
be developed is through broad based education.
People‟s intellect must be brought to bear on
development, as such there is need to empower people for development through
education. Without intellectual development, all efforts towards development
will be a waste. This is the idea behind human capital as a development
strategy. People must be encouraged to help themselves to develop, using their
intellect. Education at this point becomes a prerequisite for development.
Education is an instrument with which to change structures and ideologies that
keep people subordinate. Through
education people can gain access to resources, contribute to decision making,
gain control over their lives, gain self respect and improve on their societal
values and image. These are conditions for development. Nyerere (2006:78) in support of human capital
development notes that
“people
cannot be developed; they can only develop themselves. Man develops himself by
what he does, by making his own decisions, by increasing his own knowledge and
ability, and by his full participation as an equal in the life of the community
he lives”. Wolfensohn (2000) also reports that South Korea, Malaysia and Mexico
have given us ample evidence to demonstrate that broad-based education is
associated with a wide range of indicators of well being, including a nation‟s
increased productivity and competitiveness as well as social and political
progress. Education is a basic human right and frees the human mind from
ignorance and slavery for developmental purpose.
If education is an instrument for development,
Adult Education which is an aspect of education has the potentiality of
contributing to development through the empowerment of individuals politically,
socially and economically. To Omolewa
(1981) and Aderinoye (1997) adult education is an organized and sequential
learning experience designed to meet the felt needs of the adults. Nzeneri (2002:7) opined that it is in adult
education that emphasis is placed on lifelong learning, education as a process
and agent of liberation, a tool for adjustment, for self and national
development, for cultural awareness and integration, for conscientization and
group dynamism. He then defined adult education as “any education given to
adults based on their social, political, cultural and economic needs or problems
to enable them adjust fully to changes and challenges in their lives and
society.” Adult Education is an empowerment strategy through which adults can
uplift themselves socially and economically to enable them participate fully in
the development of their communities.
The development goals of
adult education are viewed by Garcia and Tuan (1994) at three levels namely:
1.
On
the first level, adult education should seek to resolve the pressing problems
confronting participants in everyday life in connection with their survival,
their Economic situation and the quality of their lives
2.
The
second level should seek to integrate concrete activities in a corresponding
Framework of medium and long range goals to transform society.
3.
Initiatives
on the third level help the popular masses become social agents capable of
exercising their rights as modern citizens.
Adult Education is concentrating on
programs and strategies that will help reduce poverty and facilitate
development. Jorge (1996) states that educational processes like adult
education are geared to strengthen popular organization, citizenship movement,
the popular economic sector and local community development. Recent studies
(Picon, 1990; and Palma, 1994) prove that adult education is the least
conventional branch of education, the one with the greatest degree of
heterogeneity and the one that is most closely associated with social and
political development (Rivero, 1993).
The high priority given to adult education in
the developmental process in some countries was brought to light when Jorge
(1996) notes that in Latin America the nongovernmental adult education sector
took a highly critical stand on formal schooling and distanced itself from
public education. According to him the
rejection of the formal school model was as a result of the crisis faced by
primary and secondary education. He further states that during this period
emphasis was placed on adult education, not only in the area of political
orientations but also in the search for methods corresponding to the aims of
social reformation. The role of adult education in raising the income of
individuals for development is not in dispute. Studies on rate of return on
investment in Adult Basic Education (ABE) in Indonesia, Ghana and Bangladesh
show that in Indonesia an estimated rate of return to investment of about 25 per cent; in Ghana an estimated private
rate of return of 43 percent for females and 24 per cent
for males, along with a social rate of return of 18 per cent for females and 14
per cent for males while in Bangladesh an estimated average private rate of
return as high as 37 per cent were reported (World Bank, 1986; 1999; and
2001), No 6304. No matter how uncertain
these estimates are, it is obvious that investment in adult education
programmes are productive and can increase the income of participants which can
further be invested for developmental purposes.
The role of adult education is to empower
people for change and development. This
is why the developmental roles of adult education according to Nyerere (2006)
incorporate anything that enlarges man‟s understanding, activates them, helps
them to make their own decisions and to implement those decisions for
themselves. In the same vein the aim of education including adult education
according to Fafunwa (1974) includes the development of practical skills,
character training, teaching respect for elders, teaching the values of honest
labour, inculcating a sense of belonging and community spirit and promoting
cultural heritage.
This study will determine the strategies
Adult Education Programme will adopt to achieve sustainable development.
Various challenges or problems that can inhibit Adult Education Programme from eradicating
illiteracy will be discussed. The problems in communities include – lack of
good roads, illiteracy, low income, unemployment, poor electricity supply,
degraded environment, absence of portable water and lack of adequate political
structures and knowledge.
Nigerian government in recent times has
made huge investments in education. However, it is disheartening that these
investments are mainly in the areas of primary, secondary and tertiary
education neglecting the area of adult and non-formal education. There has been
progressive decline in Nigerian government‟s capacity to implement projects
that respond to the needs of adult education in terms of personnel, funding,
collaboration and methodology. It is against this background of
underdevelopment of Nigerian communities and the critical role of education
generally and adult education specifically in the development of these
communities that the researcher intends to identify specifically what adult
education can do and what it has done in eradicating illiteracy.
Statement of the problem
Maiduguri Metropolitan Council which is one of
the local government areas in Nigeria is yet to achieve sustainable
development. This local government, made up of various communities, is still
characterized by serious signs of underdevelopment. Some of these general signs of
underdevelopment as made manifest in the background of the study include
unemployment, lack of good roads, inefficient communication system, illiteracy,
low income, absence of portable water, lack of adequate health facilities,
degraded environment, inadequate technical skills, low agricultural
productivity, poor electricity supply, and lack of adequate political
structures and knowledge. This has made life very unconducive for the
inhabitants of the communities. Despite all political structures and plans put
in place in the past, these signs of underdevelopment have persisted.
Education in form of human capital development
plays significant role in the process of development of any location or
community. Hence, governments have
invested heavily in formal education at all levels and in all forms to enable
the formal schools produce the needed manpower for development. Adult Education
for a long time has only received meager share of government‟s investment in education.
This is mainly because people including governments do not have very clear
knowledge of the potentials of adult education in eradicating illiteracy. This
being the case, it is now the problem of this study to clearly and specifically
determine how adult education can be effectively utilized in eradicating
illiteracy in Maiduguri Metropolitan Council.
Purpose of the study
The general purpose of this study is to find
out how adult education can be utilized in eradicating illiteracy. The specific
objectives are as follows:
1.
To
investigate the characteristics of the adult education participants in
Maiduguri Metropolitan Council.
2.
To
identify the contributions of adult education in eradicating illiteracy in Maiduguri
Metropolitan Council.
3.
To
determine the strategies adult education can utilize in eradicating illiteracy.
4.
To
identify the challenges that inhibit adult education in eradicating illiteracy
in Maiduguri Metropolitan Council.
5.
To
examine possible solutions to the challenges.
Significance of the Study: The result of this study will be significant in a number of
ways. It will be beneficial to instructors and participants of adult education
programmes. It will enable them determine the extent to which adult education
is utilized in eradicating illiteracy. It will also enable them contribute to
future directors of adult education for greater effectiveness.
It will also be beneficial to Maiduguri
Metropolitan Council and other local government areas that run adult education
programmes. The findings of the study will enlighten the local government
administrators on the significant position adult education occupies in the
development process. This will make them give better attention to adult
education through better funding, personnel development and better organization
of the programmes.
It will also be beneficial to Governments at
both the national and state levels. The findings of the study will be an eye
opener to those in government because it will help change their view of adult
education as a disorganized programme. It will give them an insight into the
real role adult education plays in sustainable development.
This will
help them pay better attention to adult education and probably give adult
education equal status with other types of education. This they can do through
adequate funding and management of adult education programmes and through
policy review.
It will be significant to adult education
curriculum developers. Knowledge of the
extent of the utilization of adult education in sustainable development will
enable the curriculum developers determine how far adult education has
succeeded in its quest for development. This will help them review the
curriculum in relevant areas where they are deficient and also design new
curriculum, as the case may be, to facilitate the use of adult education in
development.
The study will also be significant to policy
makers. It will enable them critically look at the current policy on adult
education and determine the need to make the policy more relevant and stronger
than it is at present.
Finally, it will be useful to the general
public because it will help change the wrong image people have about adult
education. They will know the role of adult education in development and accord
the support needed to make adult education grow.
Research Questions
1.
What
are the characteristics of the adult education participants?
2.
What
are the contributions of adult education in eradicating illiteracy in Maiduguri
Metropolitan Council?
3.
What
are the strategies adult educations can utilize in eradicating illiteracy?
4.
what
are the challenges adult education faces in eradicating illiteracy?
5.
How
can these challenges be ameliorated?
Hypotheses
The
following hypotheses stated in null form were tested at .05 level of
significance by the researcher.
Hypothesis
1: There is no significant difference
between the mean ratings of adult education Instructors and participants on the
extent to which adult education adopted the identified strategies or ways in eradicating
illiteracy.
Hypothesis
2: There is no significant difference
between the mean ratings of adult education Instructors and participants on the
challenges that face adult education in eradicating illiteracy.
Scope of the Study
The study determined how we can effectively
utilize adult education in eradicating illiteracy. The study restricted itself
to Maiduguri Metropolitan Council of Borno State. It covered the
characteristics of adult education participants, the contributions of adult
education in eradicating illiteracy, the strategies adult education programme
can adopt to achieve sustainable development, the challenges that inhibit adult
education in eradicating illiteracy in Maiduguri Metropolitan Council and how
these challenges can be ameliorated.
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